


Apprentice

by Onlyplatonicirl



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: "major character death" but not really, (basically), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Corruption, Depression, Insanity, Underswap Papyrus (Undertale), Violence, onscreen killing of a small cute animal, ouchies youchies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:00:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23041381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onlyplatonicirl/pseuds/Onlyplatonicirl
Summary: Papyrus thought his brother was gone. Killed by Error.But this was a fate worse than death.
Relationships: no romance allowed in angst land
Comments: 13
Kudos: 50





	Apprentice

**Author's Note:**

> wroted this all at midnight flushed emoji
> 
> was just.... thiniking about blueberror, man.

The world was being destroyed.

Again.

The last time hadn’t fully torn everything apart. Sure, the attacker had tried, but Papyrus had put up a pretty good fight. One good enough to make the foe flee the universe, but not before dragging a trophy with back him.

With that, it didn’t matter if the actual timeline was destroyed. Papyrus’ world basically nothing without his brother. He vowed he would get Sans back but… what was the point? He couldn’t travel through timelines. He didn’t even know where to start. No matter what he did, the blasted machine in his basement wouldn’t offer him any help either. 

And being honest with himself - Sans was probably dead.

The twisted fuckhead who came in and tore a quarter of the world to ash and dust wasn’t merciful. There was no humanity in those eyes. If he kept Sans alive for even a split second, it would most likely be to torture him for the glitch’s amusement. 

Papyrus hated him. He hated everything about that feral animal. He loathed the very thought of him. The glitches, the yellow teeth, the strings - _stars_ the strings. Electric blue strings were still webbed between columns in the judgement hall. The citizens of the underground were too scared to take them down. Papyrus didn’t want to look at them. All he saw was his brother, tears running down his face, screaming as the essence of his being was being manipulated against his will to attack his friends and family.

He still had the moment his brother was kidnapped glued in his brain - a single image, like a snapshot. His brother was in a full-fledged panic, reaching out to him while the portal closed, and the abomination of life itself was right behind him, a wicked smile stretched so far across his face it disappeared around the sides of his head.

And then they were gone.

Since that night, Papyrus had gone through so many packs that the house was clouded with smoke, and had only left twice: Once to stockpile on food, and another to buy flowers for a little memorial. No one thought anything of it. The whole town was mourning. Several people would stop by and offer their condolences, and Papyrus would just - nod his head, staring in their general direction but clearly looking way, way past them.

So when the world began to be destroyed again, most ran for cover. Strings were scattered all over the timeline, wrapping it in an inescapable and indestructible net. The general assumption was that it was the same perpetrator as last time, given the similar attacks.

Very few noticed that the strings were no longer blue, but light green.

Papyrus did, which was why he was one of the only people running towards the eye of the storm.

If Error has come back to kill them all, then Papyrus would try his hardest not to back down again. At the least, he wanted confirmation his brother was dead. Then he could have a proper burial. Well, if he was still alive. If not? Heh, they’d be seeing each other again soon.

The strings arced across the entire underground, pulling it apart, starting with the edges and making their way inward. When Papyrus finally got to the center, he found the thing that had been plaguing his nightmares since the attack.

Error looked up from where he was, opening one eye. He smirked and shifted a bit, leaning against the wall of Waterfall.

“Nice tear tracks,” he said, his voice sending tremors of rage down Papyrus’ spine. “Are you trying to match mine? I’m flattered.”

Papyrus didn’t reward him with an answer. Error’s smile dropped when he got no reaction. 

“What? What are you just staring at me for, like some kicked puppy? Are you deaf?”

“...Is my brother dead.”

It wasn’t phrased as a question, because deep down, Papyrus knew the answer before it was said.

Error’s laugh cleared that small shred of doubt he had that Sans might have still been alive. “Oh Smokey, your brother is long gone. I crushed him into the ground with my own foot. You should have been there to see it.”

At first, the scalding rage came rushing back, but then-

Just-

Relief.

He wasn’t suffering.

Papyrus always knew that somehow, death would be better for the smaller than staying alive in the other’s grasp. And what could he do about it now? Sans was dead. Killing the murderer wouldn’t bring him back _(as if he could kill Error anyways)_. Papyrus was sure it was only going to aggravate the ghost of Sans. He chuckled when the mental image of a semi-transparent skeleton scolding him popped up in his mind, and two more tears fell down his cheeks simultaneously.

Error watched, bored, as Papyrus fumbled and lit another cigarette between his teeth. “Anything else to say?”

“Yeah-“ Papyrus managed. “Any… Any last words? From him?”

For a moment, Error was silent. And then his grin grew into something evil, shifting Papyrus’ somber mood immediately into fear.

**“Why don’t you ask him yourself? I’m sure he’d be better at telling you than I would.”**

Before he had time to process what those words meant, Error put two fingers to his mouth and blew. A loud whistle bounced off the surface of every wall and then stuck to the echo flowers like pollen on a shoelace. The resulting noise ended up more like a shriek, and before it even ended, Papyrus’ hands were tied behind his back, his soul was exposed and bound, and he was on his knees.

Strings wrapped around his neck, preventing him from looking up, but he heard the voices.

“Well done. You tied him up with the proper technique, too. You’re getting more and more skilled every day.”

A giggle, and the taller skeleton suddenly stopped breathing. He knew that voice. He could pick that voice out of a lineup of voices. He had heard that voice chuckle so many times. But now it was tainted with something else. It was deeper, echoed, layered, sporadic. He normally attributed that laugh with bad jokes, and an amusing NTT TV program, or a proud baking accomplishment. Not with...with...

“Thank you! I’ve murdered most of the ruins! Though I found this one really cute froggy! Do you think I can keep it?”

The voice that was Error’s spoke again, but it was hard to tell them apart. They sounded so, so, sickeningly, similar.

“You know the rules, shorty. No abominations allowed, and I don’t give a fuck how ‘cute’ they are.”

Papyrus heard a pout and a foot was stamped on the ground. “Fine. Sorry, froggy~!”

The sound of something sharp skewering soft flesh was heard, along with the crunch of small little bones. There was a pained screaming, mixed with a croak, and then the little animal cried no more.

The higher-pitched speaker made a noise of disappointment. “Can I at least keep the body? I-I can sew the stab wound back together, keep it as a little pet! It won’t make any noise, because it’s dead!!”

“Fine, but I don’t want it touching me. Ever.”

The voice giggled again. “Yay!! I’m going to name you… Edward! Aw, his leg is still twitching! That’s so cute!! I have more friends back at home!”

“Enough with the frog, dolt. You have a victim, remember?”

“Huh- Oh!! Oh yeah!! Sorry, I forgot about you!” The voice called in Papyrus’ direction.

But Papyrus was barely listening anymore. Sweat had begun to drip onto the ground. He didn’t want to believe it. He couldn’t. Error was playing tricks on him. No no no, there had to be another explanation. There was no way tha-

His head was lifted up, and he suddenly face to face with something that made him nearly vomit right there and then.

“Hi!!” Said the error cheerfully. In the hand not tied with strings, was a dead frog, the light not yet gone from its eyes, but quickly vanishing. Its blood was steadily soaking through the glove on his hand, but the glitch didn’t notice. 

He blinked down at Papyrus, his eyes horribly mismatched and wide with complete insanity. “My name is Blueberry, nice to meet you! I hope you don’t mind, but I need to kill you now!”

**Author's Note:**

> wanna write more but not rn im kinda tired. ill do it later lol.
> 
> Also i think that randompasserbyer has a big Blueberror project coming up and im really excited for it so im sitting here like :eyes:


End file.
